We made it back to the Frostmoor stronghold before dawn, our wolves barely clinging to their forms. Lucan was limping, Kael’s left shoulder was slashed open, and my head throbbed with magic I didn’t remember using. My brother—silent and distant—walked a few paces behind us. He hadn’t spoken since Ashen rose from the Hollow. I wasn’t sure if he was stunned… or scared. Maybe both. The Frostmoor wolves stood at the gates with blades drawn, but when they saw Kael bleeding beside me, they dropped their weapons instantly. “She’s one of us,” Kael growled before collapsing to one knee. I caught him before he hit the stone floor. “Get a healer!” I barked. “Now!” ⸻ Kael’s wounds weren’t fatal, but they were deeper than expected. The Shadowborn claws carried something foul—something that resisted healing magic. The pack witches did what they could, but he needed time. Rest. Time we didn’t have. I sat beside him, brushing a strand of hair from his face. He was sleeping, but his jaw kept
The ground split open. A jagged line cleaved the Hollow’s center, ripping apart the cracked earth like some ancient beast had clawed its way from beneath our world—and maybe, it just had. My brother—the one I’d only just met—backed away from the edge of the chasm, his face suddenly pale beneath the glow of the blood moon. “You weren’t supposed to come,” he muttered. “Not yet.” “What the hell is that?” I asked, the Moonfang pulsing like a heartbeat in my palm. He didn’t answer. Because he didn’t know. Because this wasn’t part of anyone’s plan—not Darian’s, not the gods’, not even the nightmares that haunted my own bloodline. From the chasm came a sound. Not a growl. Not a howl. A cry. Raw. Hollow. Human. I stepped toward the edge. Lucan shouted behind me, “Elara, don’t—!” Too late. A blast of cold wind hit me in the chest, dragging the scent of earth, blood, and birth magic up from the shadows. It smelled like storms. Like death. And then— A hand reached up from the d
My father died in my arms. Again. Only this time, it wasn’t the fire or the war or the stories whispered through a thousand lies. It was real. His blood soaked through my tunic, warm and sticky. His eyes—those same storm-gray eyes as mine—stared past me, blank, broken. And his final words? They scorched deeper than any blade. “Your brother… is still… alive.” Kael dragged me out of the crypt before I could collapse beside the body. I didn’t scream. Didn’t cry. Didn’t say a word. I just burned. Inside. Quiet and brutal. Because how the hell do you mourn a second death when you barely survived the first? Lucan stayed behind to seal the catacombs. “If Darian wants more blood, he’ll have to bleed for it,” he muttered, scrawling runes in ash across the stones. Kael didn’t speak until we were halfway down the Vale cliffs. “Elara,” he said quietly. “What if it’s true?” “It is,” I snapped. “You saw the mark on the girl. You saw what was written in the crypt. My mother didn’t just
I didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe. Couldn’t. The girl lay motionless beneath me, her blood seeping into the cracked earth. The mark on her chest glowed faintly—fading with every second. It was identical to mine. Same crescent. Same pulse of old magic. Same ancestral fire. “She was one of us,” I whispered. Kael crouched beside me, his jaw clenched, hands trembling. “I didn’t know. I swear, Elara, I didn’t know—” “She died because of me.” “No.” His voice was sharp, fierce. “She died because of Veyrix.” But that didn’t change the fact that the sigil didn’t lie. She wasn’t just a Luna candidate. She was family. Maybe a cousin. Maybe more. Someone my mother had hidden. Protected. Sacrificed. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I asked, tears burning hot in my eyes. “Why did she have to die for me to see her?” Lucan stepped forward, blood smeared across his jaw. “She wasn’t in any of the records. I checked the old scrolls myself. There was no mention of a second bearer.” “She wasn’t jus
The sky didn’t just split—it shuddered. The light from Kael’s pendant pierced the clouds like a war cry, and every creature—wolf, god, traitor—paused beneath its glow. My skin vibrated with something ancient. Not just magic. Something calling. Somewhere far away, a howl rose in response. It wasn’t Kael. Wasn’t mine. It was older than Stormbane. Older than any bloodline. The Wolf Between Worlds. The first. Kael limped to my side, eyes wide with pain and awe. “What the hell did you just do?” “I called it,” I whispered. “The one who watches everything.” He looked up at the sky, where stars bled silver and the clouds churned like a storm held in chains. “You weren’t supposed to do that.” “I know,” I said. “But I had no choice.” Across the battlefield, Darian froze. His dark eyes narrowed. “You didn’t,” he murmured. “You couldn’t.” Maelin was on her knees now, whispering prayers in Old Wolf. Lucan swore under his breath, dragging his blade through a downed Nightbound. “What
I hadn’t seen my aunt in years. Not since the night my mother died—burned alive in the great hall while the pack howled and the stars turned their backs. Her name was Maelin Vale. My mother’s only sister. Warrior. Strategist. And now? She stood beside Darian Crowe like she belonged there. Like she chose him. “Maelin?” I choked, unable to keep the crack from my voice. Her eyes—steel grey, sharp and cruel—raked over me. She wore black leathers reinforced with runes, and her silver hair was braided like a crown. “You’ve grown,” she said coldly. “You look just like her.” “Then why are you standing with him?” I spat, stepping forward. “You were supposed to protect her—protect me.” Maelin tilted her head. “Protect you? Is that what she told you?” Kael stepped beside me, chest heaving, rage simmering in his golden eyes. “Elara, get behind me.” “No,” I said. “Not this time.” Maelin’s expression didn’t falter. “Your mother lied to you. She lied to all of us. She hid what you were—w